J K Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter books, has 'terminated her association' with Christopher Little, who has been her literary agent for 16 years.

J K RowlingPhoto: Paul Grover

By Richard Eden

6:30AM BST 03 Jul 2011

He is the enigmatic agent who spotted the potential of J K Rowling's first manuscript and single-handedly turned her HarryPotter novels into a multi-million pound industry.

Christopher Little is, however, considering legal action this weekend, having been dumped by the world's most successful author after 16 years.

The 69-year-old son of a First World War fighter pilot tells Mandrake that he is "disappointed and surprised" to be informed that Rowling has "terminated her association" with his eponymous literary agency.

To add insult to injury, Rowling, who has an estimated fortune of £530 million, has joined one of Little's business partners, Neil Blair, at a new agency that he has set up, The Blair Partnership.

Rowling's defection sheds new light on her much-publicised announcement last month that she would launch a website, Pottermore, in October. She had worked closely with Blair, a lawyer, on the site while he was still with Little. It is expected to earn her many more millions through the sale of ebooks and online games.

"I knew that in 1998 I was generating more material than would ever appear in the books," she said at the launch. Little says he was taken aback by Rowling's desertion.

"Christopher Little has worked closely with J K Rowling since the very beginning 16 years ago," his spokesman tells me. "He greatly admires her and her extraordinary talent and is proud to have played his role throughout this journey. However, he is disappointed and surprised to have heard the premature news about the proposed new arrangements. There is no comment as to the prospect of legal action."

Rowling, 45, who has sold more than 450 million copies of her books about the child wizard, declines to explain her decision. Blair, who previously worked for the "Magic Circle" City law firm Linklaters, is similarly reticent.

Blair started working for the Christopher Little Literary Agency in 2001, by which time four of Rowling's best-selling novels had already been published.

Her ditching of Little brings to an end the most commercially successful relationship in literary history. Legend has it that Rowling, then an impecunious single mother, walked into a library in Edinburgh, looked up a list of literary agents and settled on the name Christopher Little because it sounded like a character from a children's book.

Little, an amiable Yorkshireman, who ran his agency in "near-Dickensian" offices in Fulham, is now worth millions. He reportedly struck a deal under his usual terms when he first signed up Rowling: 15 per cent of gross earnings for the British market and 20 per cent for merchandising rights, for film, for the American market and for translation deals.